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Authors Morillon

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Morillon, Raphael


Publications
2

CitationNamesAbstract
Can an HLB-resistant interstock block the long-distance movement of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ within citrus trees? Darolt et al. (2026). Frontiers in Plant Science 17 Ca. Liberibacter asiaticus
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Identification of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma’ species in “huanglongbing” infected citrus orchards in the Caribbean Luis-Pantoja et al. (2021). European Journal of Plant Pathology 160 (1) Ca. Phytoplasma Liberibacter
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Can an HLB-resistant interstock block the long-distance movement of ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ within citrus trees?
Among citrus diseases, Huanglongbing (HLB) is recognized as the most destructive and economically damaging worldwide. It is mainly associated with ‘ Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ ( C Las) being transmitted by Diaphorina citri . There are no curative treatments or commercial citrus varieties resistant to C Las. Wild Aurantioideae species have been widely screened and, recently, Oceanian genotypes graft- and sexually compatible with Citrus were identified as HLB-resistant; however, there is no information regarding their use as interstocks of commercial varieties yet. Under greenhouse conditions, six HLB-resistant genotypes were evaluated as interstocks between ‘Valencia’ sweet orange scion and ‘Rangpur’ lime rootstock, both susceptible to HLB, with ‘Valencia’ interstock as the control. Rootstocks were nucellar seedlings, and the scion was a commercial accession preimmunized with a mild CTV strain. Plants were assessed for C Las infection and titer in leaves, stem bark, and roots up to 12–24 months after graft-inoculation in the scion and compared to non-inoculated controls. Furthermore, molecular, anatomical, and biometric variables were investigated. As expected, the scion variety was colonized by C Las regardless of the genotype evaluated as interstock. Although bacteria were detected in the roots of most C Las-inoculated plants, C Las movement from the scion to the roots was blocked in 42% and 86% of composite plants when using a F1 hybrid of C. australis × C. inodora or an admixture hybrid of C. glauca , C. australis , and C. australasica as interstocks. Overall, C Las titers were similar in infected plant tissues among the evaluated genotypes, but titers were lower in interstock bark tissues compared to scion and rootstock ones. After one-two years of C Las + CTV infection (experiments I and II, respectively), the dry weight of the root system decreased by 50% in infected trees compared to control trees for most genotypes, and C Las + CTV infection was associated with changes in the sieve phloem and gene expression. These findings suggest that, despite CTV infection, interstocks derived from some hybrids of Australian citrus types have the potential to restrict the movement of C Las from the scion into the roots of infected citrus trees. Long-term evaluation of composite plants in field conditions is necessary to assess tree performance and, ultimately, the impact of C Las blockage by interstocking on HLB disease damage.
Identification of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma’ species in “huanglongbing” infected citrus orchards in the Caribbean
Abstract“Huanglongbing” (HLB) is one of the most devastating diseases of citrus orchards worldwide. Samples from 183 citrus plants of different cultivars and rootstock/cultivar combinations, showing HLB symptoms in three Caribbean countries (Cuba, Jamaica, and Guadeloupe-France), were collected to verify the possible co-infection of ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma’ and ‘Candidatus Liberibacter’ species. The 64% of the samples resulted positive to the ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ and the 27% to diverse ‘Ca. Phytoplasma’-related species, moreover about the 14% of the samples infected with ‘Ca. Liberibacter’ were also found positive to phytoplasmas, indicating the presence of mixed infection especially in the orchards located in Cuba. Moreover, in one of the samples from Jamaica mixed phytoplasma infection was detected. Moreover the detection of only phytoplasmas in 11 symptomatic citrus samples collected from Cuba and Guadeloupe without ‘Ca. Liberibacter’ detection, confirmed that the symptomatology cannot be the sole criterium to discriminate between the presence of the two pathogens, and molecular detection is necessary to identify single or mixed infections. Diaphorina citri insects collected from Cuba and Guadeloupe resulted infected with ‘Ca. L. asiaticus’ confirming its active role in the dissemination of the pathogen. Only one insect of the Cicadidae family, collected in Guadeloupe, was found positive for phytoplasma presence. Considering that the phytoplasmas belonging to some ‘Candidatus species’ were detected in the three countries in different citrus varieties, a relevant role as phytoplasma reservoir can be attribute to citrus orchards.
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